Herman Cain, former CEO of Godfather's
Pizza and potential 2012 GOP presidential candidate, added to a recent series
of disparaging
comments he's made about
the Muslim faith when he told Political Correction that the U.S.
Department of Justice's efforts to enforce the Civil Rights Act of 1964 against a public school that allegedly discriminated against a Muslim teacher were "purely political," and that freedom to practice
religion is "dividing this country."

PC: Let me ask
you, the Obama administration, Eric Holder's DOJ, is going after public schools
- he's suing public schools, for - there was a case where he's suing a public
school for releasing a Muslim woman, letting her go because she wanted to go on
a pilgrimage. Do you think that's political, what they're doing, or do you
think that's the job of the federal DOJ?

CAIN: That's
political...purely political is what that is. I would rather the DOJ
enforce the Defense Of Marriage Act than worry about whether a lady was let
go because she wanted to take off an inordinate amount of time. Rules are rules
in the workplace. The last time I checked, if you work for somebody, you work
for an institution, and they've got work rules, you don't go take the job and
then you want to change the rules later because of your religion. Go work
somewhere else.

You know, this
is what's...this is what's dividing this country. You know, employers have rights. Employees have
rights. And I don't believe in trampling on the rights of the employers.
When I ran Burger King division, when I ran a group with the Pillsbury company,
when I ran Godfather's Pizza, National Restaurant Association, getting ready to
hire somebody - here are the rules. Now don't say yes to this job and come back
later and complain about the rules of the workplace. That is totally, totally
wrong.

You shouldn't
have gotten me off on that tangent.

Watch:

Cain made his comments to Political
Correction earlier this week while preparing to give a speech at the
Conservative Principles Conference sponsored by Rep. Steve King (R-IA) in Des
Moines. Afterward, he added to his anti-Islam sentiment when he told ThinkProgress that if he were elected president, he would
not appoint a Muslim in his administration.

Last week, Cain toldChristianity Today that Muslims
should be allowed to practice their religion freely, but added, "Based upon the
little knowledge that I have of the Muslim religion...they have an objective to
convert all infidels or kill them."

Although he's touted by some as evidence of diversity within
the conservative movement, Cain's comments suggest that he's trying garner
support by being the most stridently anti-Muslim candidate in the field and by calling
for an end to federal enforcement of some civil rights.